Article 7.
The Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records.
§ 126‑22.  Personnel files not subject to inspection under § 132‑6.
(a)	Except as provided in G.S. 126‑23 and G.S. 126‑24, personnel files of State employees shall not be subject to inspection and examination as authorized by G.S. 132‑6.
(b)	For purposes of this Article the following definitions apply:
(1)	"Employee" means any current State employee, former State employee, or applicant for State employment.
(2)	"Employer" means any State department, university, division, bureau, commission, council, or other agency subject to Article 7 of this Chapter.
(3)	"Personnel file" means any employment‑related or personal information gathered by an employer or by the Office of State Human Resources. Employment‑related information contained in a personnel file includes information related to an individual's application, selection, promotion, demotion, transfer, leave, salary, contract for employment, benefits, suspension, performance evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination. Personal information contained in a personnel file includes an individual's home address, social security number, medical history, personal financial data, marital status, dependents, and beneficiaries.
(4)	"Record" means the personnel information that each employer is required to maintain in accordance with G.S. 126‑23.
(c)	Personnel files of former State employees who have been separated from State employment for 10 or more years may be open to inspection and examination except for papers and documents relating to demotions and to disciplinary actions resulting in the dismissal of the employee. Retirement files maintained by the Retirement Systems Division of the Department of State Treasurer shall be made public pursuant to G.S. 128‑33.1 and G.S. 135‑6.1.
(d)	Repealed by Session Laws 2016‑108, s. 2(d), effective July 22, 2016.  (1975, c. 257, s. 1; 1977, c. 866, s. 9; 2007‑508, s. 4.5; 2008‑194, s. 11(a); 2013‑382, s. 9.1(c); 2016‑108, s. 2(d).)

§ 126‑23.  Certain records to be kept by State agencies open to inspection.
(a)	Each department, agency, institution, commission and bureau of the State shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each such employee:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment to State service.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the agency has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau.
(10)	Date and general description of the reasons for each promotion with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau.
(11)	Date and type of each dismissal, suspension, or demotion for disciplinary reasons taken by the department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau. If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the head of the department setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(12)	The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned.
(b)	For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.
(c)	Subject only to rules and regulations for the safekeeping of the records, adopted by the State Human Resources Commission, every person having custody of such records shall permit them to be inspected and examined and copies thereof made by any person during regular business hours. Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, any person who is denied access to any such record for the purpose of inspecting, examining or copying the same shall have a right to compel compliance with the provisions of this section by application to a court of competent jurisdiction for a writ of mandamus or other appropriate relief.
(d)	Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, persons in the custody of, or under the supervision of, the Division of Prisons and persons in the custody of local confinement facilities are not entitled to access to the records made public under this section and are prohibited from obtaining those records, absent a court order authorizing access to, or custody, or possession.
(e)	An attorney investigating allegations of unlawful misconduct or abuse by a Division of Prisons employee may request, and shall be provided with, information sufficient to identify the full name or names of the employee alleged to be involved in the misconduct or abuse in the current position of the employee within the Division; or, the last position held by the employee and the last date of employment by the Division. The attorney may not give the offender copies of departmental records or official documents absent a court order authorizing access to, or custody, or possession.  (1975, c. 257, s. 1; c. 667, s. 2; 2007‑508, s. 4; 2010‑169, s. 18(a); 2011‑145, s. 19.1(h); 2011‑324, s. 1.1(b); 2013‑382, s. 9.1(c); 2017‑186, s. 2(ttttt); 2021‑180, s. 19C.9(p).)

§ 126‑24.  Confidential information in personnel files; access to such information.
All other information contained in a personnel file is confidential and shall not be open for inspection and examination except to the following persons:
(1)	The employee, applicant for employment, former employee, or his properly authorized agent, who may examine his own personnel file in its entirety except for (i) letters of reference solicited prior to employment, or (ii) information concerning a medical disability, mental or physical, that a prudent physician would not divulge to a patient. An employee's medical record may be disclosed to a licensed physician designated in writing by the employee;
(2)	The supervisor of the employee;
(2a)	A potential State or local government supervisor, during the interview process, only with regard to performance management documents;
(3)	Members of the General Assembly who may inspect and examine personnel records under the authority of G.S. 120‑19;
(4)	A party by authority of a proper court order may inspect and examine a particular confidential portion of a State employee's personnel file; and
(5)	An official of an agency of the federal government, State government or any political subdivision thereof. Such an official may inspect any personnel records when such inspection is deemed by the department head of the employee whose record is to be inspected or, in the case of an applicant for employment or a former employee, by the department head of the agency in which the record is maintained as necessary and essential to the pursuance of a proper function of said agency; provided, however, that such information shall not be divulged for purposes of assisting in a criminal prosecution, nor for purposes of assisting in a tax investigation.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, any department head may, in his discretion, inform any person or corporation of any promotion, demotion, suspension, reinstatement, transfer, separation, dismissal, employment or nonemployment of any applicant, employee or former employee employed by or assigned to his department or whose personnel file is maintained in his department and the reasons therefor and may allow the personnel file of such person or any portion thereof to be inspected and examined by any person or corporation when such department head shall determine that the release of such information or the inspection and examination of such file or portion thereof is essential to maintaining the integrity of such department or to maintaining the level or quality of services provided by such department; provided that prior to releasing such information or making such file or portion thereof available as provided herein, such department head shall prepare a memorandum setting forth the circumstances which the department head deems to require such disclosure and the information to be disclosed. The memorandum shall be retained in the files of said department head and shall be a public record.  (1975, c. 257, s. 1; 1977, c. 866, s. 10; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1207; 2015‑260, s. 5.5.)

§ 126‑25.  Remedies of employee objecting to material in file.
(a)	An employee, former employee, or applicant for employment who objects to material in the employee's file may place in his or her file a written statement relating to the material the employee considers to be inaccurate or misleading.
(b)	An employee, former employee, or applicant for employment who objects to material in the employee's file because he or she considers it inaccurate or misleading may seek the removal of such material from the file in accordance with a grievance procedure approved by the State Human Resources Commission. If the agency determines that material in the employee's file is inaccurate or misleading, the agency shall remove or amend the inaccurate material to ensure that the file is accurate. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit an employee to appeal the contents of a performance appraisal or written disciplinary action.  (1975, c. 257, s. 1; c. 667, s. 2; 1977, c. 866, s. 11; 1985, c. 638; 2013‑382, s. 7.4; 2014‑115, s. 55.3(c).)

§ 126‑26.  Rules and regulations.
The State Human Resources Commission shall prescribe such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to implement the provisions of this Article.  (1975, c. 257, s. 1; c. 667, s. 2; 2013‑382, s. 9.1(c).)

§ 126‑27.  Penalty for permitting access to confidential file by unauthorized person.
Any public official or employee who shall knowingly and willfully permit any person to have access to or custody or possession of any portion of a personnel file designated as confidential by this Article, unless such person is one specifically authorized by G.S. 126‑24 to have access thereto for inspection and examination, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction shall only be fined in the discretion of the court but not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00). (1975, c. 257, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 934; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

§ 126‑28.  Penalty for examining, copying, etc., confidential file without authority.
Any person, not specifically authorized by G.S. 126‑24 to have access to a personnel file designated as confidential by this Article, who shall knowingly and willfully examine in its official filing place, remove or copy any portion of a confidential personnel file shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction shall only be fined in the discretion of the court but not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00). (1975, c. 257, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 935; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

§ 126‑29.  Access to material in file for agency hearing.
A party to a quasi‑judicial hearing of a State agency subject to Article 7 of this Chapter, or a State agency subject to Article 7 of this Chapter which is conducting a quasi‑judicial hearing, may have access to relevant material in personnel files and may introduce copies of such material or information based on such material as evidence in the hearing either upon consent of the employee, former employee, or applicant for employment or upon subpoena properly issued by the agency either upon request of a party or on its own motion.  Nothing in this Article shall impose liability on any agent or officer of the State for compliance with this provision, notwithstanding any other provision of this Article. (1977, c. 866, s. 12; 1987, c. 320, s. 5.)

§ 126‑30.  Fraudulent disclosure and willful nondisclosure on application for State employment; penalties.
(a)	Any employee who knowingly and willfully discloses false or misleading information, or conceals dishonorable military service; or conceals prior employment history or other requested information, either of which are significantly related to job responsibilities on an application for State employment may be subjected to disciplinary action up to and including immediate dismissal from employment. Dismissal shall be mandatory where the applicant discloses false or misleading information in order to meet position qualifications. Application forms for State employment shall include a statement informing applicants of the consequences of such fraudulent disclosure or lack of disclosure.
(b)	The employing authority within each department, university, board, or commission, shall verify the status of credentials and the accuracy of statements contained in the application of each new employee within 90 days from the date of the employees employment. Failure to verify the application shall not bar action under subsection (a) above.
(c)	The State Human Resources Commission shall issue rules and procedures to implement this section for all departments, agencies and institutions which are not exempted from the North Carolina Human Resources Act under G.S 126‑5(c1). Each agency, department and institution which is exempted under G.S. 126‑5(c1) shall issue regulations to implement this section pursuant to the rulemaking procedures applicable to it.  (1987, c. 666, s. 1; 2013‑382, s. 9.1(c).)

§ 126‑31.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

§ 126‑32.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

§ 126‑33.  Reserved for future codification purposes.